~ Angelica Summer camps never end well. At least, not in Angelica’s experience. The first time she attended a summer camp, she was at the wrong place and it was bursting with high pitched toddlers. The other time she was the victim of some pranksters and got covered in slime and came home with blisters and bird seed.
Angelica promised her mother that this would be the last time she ever set foot in a summer camp and their awful shenanigans again. The wind was cheerfully breezing through the leaves and tucking at Angelica’s hat. She scanned the neighbourhood for a navy blue bicycle that belonged to Kate.
She had known Kate ever since primary school when Kate gave a kid a heart attack with her lengthy lecture because he had stepped on her brand new shoes. Kate Hu was always one for principle and justice, but also schadenfreude.
At cue, a blue bicycle appeared in front of the white fence that guarded a sturdy wooden house. A girl with squinty almond shaped eyes and a round face waved to Angelica while pulling a rucksack on her shoulders.
“Hey!” Kate screamed and smiled with a full mouth of white teeth.
Angelica smiled, waking up the entire neighbourhood was Kate’s specialty. She waved back and came to a stop next to her.
“Ready for Summer Camp?” Angelica asked.
“But of course, if it means we can finally get back at those annoying sophisticated brats then yes, I’m totally down for it.”
The front door of the house opened and Mrs Hu came outside with a towel and flower sticking on her hands. “Kate! Don’t forget to check on Kai at camp and let us know when you’ve arrived! Oh, hello Angelica!”
Kate yelled, “Yes mom!”
“Hi Mrs Hu!” Angelica replied as she waved at Mrs Hu.
“Have a fun time girls,” Mrs Hu said with her thick accent and smiled. “And be safe! Stay away from fire and fights!”
“Mom, it’s a summer camp! Of course there’s going to be fire. Don’t worry too much!” Kate shouted as she was already far away and laughed out loud.
The two girls cycled on the road, their bicycles going in anything but straight lines. Around the corner a huge sign popped to their right with big letters saying “WELCOME TO SUMMER CAMP!” An orange arrow underneath it pointed to a sad road that led to a campus that stretched far across the horizon.
The campus was bustling with kids of all ages. Even though it was early in the morning around nine o’clock there was lots of romping and noise already. It was finally summer, everyone was glad school was over and that they had a break from homework and dull professors.
There were children running around and some old country song faded in the background as the campus filled with voices. Supervisors were marching around checking that no one got hurt and making sure everyone got sorted into groups.
A middle aged professor came to them, making his way with much effort through the running stampede of people. His eyes blinked several times behind black glasses and he clenched his teeth while bringing out a forced smile.
“Hello, children.” He said and wiped some mud from his neat jacket. “You both look new, I am professor Klaus Ackermann, but you can call me…” He seemed to be in thought for a moment and shook his head. “Call me whatever you want, anyway, vehicles go over there,” Professor Klaus said and he pointed to a barn at the end of the campus where several people went with their bikes and motorcycles.
“And after you’ve parked your vehicles, find me again and we’ll discuss the groups. Happy camp.” As he walked away he muttered to himself, “I told them to put a guard at the entrance to help the new people, but no.”
Angelica and Kate entered the barn filled with straw and wood smelling like animal extract. Kate wrinkled her nose and walked on tiptoes, careful not to step on anything dirty. She plopped her bicycle down on a haystack and locked it. Angelica followed Kate’s tracks and then both of them walked out again to search for Professor Klaus.
“I really hope everything goes well this time,” Angelica said to Kate.
As they made their way through a crowd, Kate replied with, “Yeah, fingers crossed. I do have a good feeling about this one.”
Just then a red paintball flew at Kate and splattered all across her face and her blank t-shirt.
~ Jack As Jack was walking around on camp, exploring the place he noticed the following. “No way!” he shouted, “There’s paintball?”
“Aren’t you a little too old for this?” A boy asked Jack.
“Too old?” Jack said and clutched his chest pretending to feel offended, “Listen amigo, no one comes between Captain Jack and paintball, alright. Now where is my team at?”
Three other boys joined them and together they built a sturdy wall and loaded their weapons. “Listen up guerreros. The enemy will try to break us, but we’ll stand strong. Even if we have to give up our life. Aye?”
“Aye!” The boys shouted and worked under Jack’s command.
They were shooting paintballs at every passing person and managed to hold their fort as long as possible.
Suddenly Jack saw a tall guy with a mischievous grin bullying someone, that was his next target. He aimed his weapon and fired! At the same time the guy moved two steps forward and the paintball splattered all across a girl’s face and her t-shirt. Jack saw her expression slowly change from hopeful and happy to anger and fire. She made eye-contact with him and started marching towards him.
“Retreat!” he shouted, “The enemy is coming at us with full power. Brace yourselves, mis amigos!”
He got up and ran back together with four other guys half his age. If Jack wasn’t wearing a headband to keep his hair out of his eyes, you would have probably seen him sweat already.
The girl was coming closer and closer until Jack bumped into a tree and was stuck there. The others had successfully escaped though. Angelica stood at a safe distance and stared at them with wide eyes.
“How dare you?” She asked Jack as she squinted her eyes even more and placed her hands on her hips, “First of all, I do not wish to be here, but when I finally made peace with it, you come and ruin things.”
Jack wanted to apologise, but she held her finger up and said, “Uh no. I’m not done yet. Second, this is my new t-shirt. And not only-”
Jack was seriously intimidated by this girl. This was super uncomfortable and as much as he wished he could take it all back, he could not.
“Kate, let’s not intimidate any strangers today, shall we?” Her friend offered.
Kate shrugged, “What is he? Twelve?”
Just then they were interrupted by Professor Klaus, “Ah, Ms Hu and Ms Esari, I see you’ve met your other team member, Mr Cooper.”
“Team member?” Both Jack and Kate yelled simultaneously.
“That’s right,” He said with a raised eyebrow. “You get sorted in teams of six. Together you have to solve little mysteries and most of all have fun.” He said, his voice lacking excitement.
The professor pulled a notebook from his jacket and squinted his eyes while pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “Search for Alex Dekker, Maya, and Marc Cromwell, then you can start with the first task.”
“What is the first task?” Angelica asked while Kate and Jack still stood in silence with surprise.
“Building a campfire.” He said with forced enthusiasm. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.” And he seemed rather eager to do so since he disappeared within a second from the scene.
“Go Rangers!” Jack then yelled.
Kate crossed her arms in disapproval.
“What?” Jack asked, “I’ve named our group.”
She rolled her eyes and locked her arm in Angelica’s and dragged her with. “Please tell me I heard it all wrong.”
Angelica chuckled. “Did we hear it wrong?” She asked and looked back at Jack.
“Nope.” Jack answered.
“Nope,” Angelica repeated and turned to Kate.
“This is going to be the worst summer camp ever.” Kate muttered.
Jack ran behind them, “Hey, wait up!”
“What do you want?” Kate asked.
“We’re a group, you can’t just leave me behind.” Jack said innocently.
“Well, guess what?” Kate said. “We just did.” She smiled content.
Angelica snorted. “Jack, you’ve just earned yourself the position of group attendance keeper. Let’s go search for the others.”
~ Marc This was too loud, too crowded and too much of everything. Marc wanted to be at home, sit with his books and little science experiments, but his uncle thought otherwise. He thought that Marc was way too skinny and pale, and that he didn’t live his life to its potential.
“A summer camp is a start at an adventure of a lifetime,” Those were Uncle Remo’s exact words.
As he wrinkled between the kids towards the professor, he tapped him on the shoulder which made him jump.
“Oh good lord from above!” Professor Klaus yelped, “Do not sneak upon people like that, young man.”
Marc was about to ask him about the groups, when Professor Paritosh interrupted him, “Yes, yes, the groups, I know. What’s your name?”
“Marc.”
Professor Klaus sighed, “You’re really going to make me ask?”
Marc was confused, he tucked his glasses higher upon his nose and waited for an explanation.
“I have five Marc’s in section one, another three in two and seven more in section three. I can go on and on.”
“Ah, Marc Cromwell.” Marc then said.
“Finally, you are in section three; years 15 to 18. Find group eleven, they call themselves ‘the Rangers’.”
“Are you sure I’m not in another group?” Marc asked, “That sounds so rebellious. I also had another question, is there a task that involves plants? Or maybe some gardening? I was also wondering if there’s a science lab here?”
Professor Klaus waited for Marc to finish and then said, “Group eleven, Rangers. Goodbye Mr Cromwell.” And he started waving to Marc in his face, an obvious clue to leave him alone.
Marc turned around to walk back, when he gave him a pat on his back, “Go on then.”
He walked back into the bustling crowd of children and noticed that some of them had stickers on the back of their clothes with numbers, that must be their group numbers he thought.
He searched for elevens, but none. Until he saw a blond guy walking amidst the crowd with an eleven on his back. He was fast, but tall to miss in the crowd. He walked as fast as he could, to ask him if he was in the right group, but couldn’t catch up. Then suddenly Marc lost him.
“Dammit,” Marc muttered, now he had to search for another team member. Why didn’t the camp have a bell or something to call order in the place?
Just then he got a tap on his shoulder and turned around. “Team Rangers?”
“Yes,” Marc said, “You too?”
She nodded, “What’s up, I’m Maya.” The girl said with both her hands in her pockets.
“Got ya, Marc.” He said.
“Alright Marc, let’s go find the others and get this over with.” Maya said.
Last edited by Roxanne on Sat Feb 15, 2025 11:00 pm, edited 5 times in total.
“It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice cream sandwiches.” - Lemony Snicket
~ Maya The night sky watched the six as they walked through the forest with second hand flashlights. “The Rangers”, they were named now for the entire duration of the summer camp, something they had to thank Jack for. Like most of the other groups of the same age, they were given the task to collect twigs and pieces of wood for a bonfire while surviving on small bags of walnuts.
It wasn’t ideal, but for Maya it was a good escape from the many people and loud noises. Being grateful for walnuts on this expedition was one thing, but having a jacket was another. The night brought cold breezes that seemed to cause some stiff limbs for the others.
Alex didn’t seem comfortable at all with the mentioning of bonfires, though he did look more relaxed picking up twigs. He had been silent for most of the time and seemed quite reserved unlike Kate. Maya caught her throwing annoyed glances at Jack numerous times, likely because of the big red stain that covered her blouse.
Apart from Angelica and Kate, no one else was familiar with one another. Maya wasn’t particularly interested in small talk or in-depth personal conversations, so the little time they had to complete this task was a gift. After her parents divorce, which resulted in them recommending this camp as a way to cope with things and slowly get into the new routine. Maya scoffed at this thought, maybe a little too loudly.
“You OK there?” A voice behind her asked. Maya turned and saw Angelica picking up a piece of wood and looked at her.
Maya opened her mouth to say something, but she found herself at loss for words. Things were definitely not OK with her.
Angelica seemed to understand. “It’s fine, don’t answer that.”
“How are the walnuts, though?” She asked.
Maya’s blank face cracked into a smile, “Yeah, they taste like crap.”
“Agreed. How many twigs do you have already?”
“Not much,” Maya replied. “Shit, I probably zoned out for too long. Where are the others? Should we wait for them?”
“They’ll probably catch up soon. Want a walnut in the meantime?” Angelica asked and held her bag of nuts in front of her, a grin plastered on her face.
“We should probably save that for the bonfire if we run out of twigs.”
Maya suddenly yelped.
Jack and Alex turned up from behind a bush and Marc and Kate came from behind Angelica. They looked straight at something large, floating where a tree was supposed to be. It seemed like a round door that glowed at the corners with a golden colour.
“What… is that?” Marc asked, not believing his eyes.
Angelica stared at it with wide eyes and Kate almost dropped the twigs in her hands. Jack’s jaw dropped, but after a moment he began to laugh.
“OK, awesome visual effects, guys.” He said and looked around as if he was going to spot some pranksters from behind the trees. “But seriously, you can stop now.”
For a split second Maya would have believed him, but suddenly the golden colour disappeared and the hole turned darker than the night itself, a black void pulling at all living things.
~ Alex Alex felt out of place in the group. One of the reasons being that he was only one eighteen years old. Another reason being that he had to collect twigs like a child, this was something for his sisters not him. Yet he had to be here, so here he was.
Strands of his blond hair fell onto his face each time he bowed down to pick up twigs. He chose a quiet space on purpose to avoid conversation, as he was not in the mood. Just then Jack showed up out of nowhere holding a linen sack. “Got any twigs? Why am I even asking that, that’s the entire reason we’re here.”
Alex dropped the twigs in and nodded. How he despised Jack’s loud nature. And Jack disappeared again.
Back to the quietness and mindfulness of nature. Alex took a bite of one of the walnuts and spit it out immediately. “Disgusting,” he remarked. “How do people even enjoy this?”
“Tell me about it.” Jack said who started searching for twigs in his direction.
Alex rolled his eyes and continued his “task” in peace.
“So how did it happen?” Jack asked again.
Alex frowned, “How did what happen?”
“How’d you end up here?” Jack asked, “Dude, come on! No one chooses to be here, unlike me.”
“Dude?” Alex repeated in confusion, but then explained, “That’s right. My sisters really wanted to go this camp, so my father decided that-”
Jack interrupted him, “Babysitter?”
“Kind of.” Alex replied, happy he didn’t have to go all in detail and wondered if Jack always talked so much.
Just then there was a crack deeper in the woods somewhere.
“Did you hear that?” Jack asked.
Of course Alex did, why did he talk so much? “Yes.”
“Bro, if it’s a bear, I'm outta here.”
“Bro?”
“Yeah man, it’s people of our age kinda talk.” Jack said, “Dude, where did you grow up?”
“The Big City,” Alex replied.
“I knew it!” Jack shouted, forgetting about the mysterious sound. “My older sisters study there, they’re always looking at me in a weird way when I talk to them like that too.”
Then there was crackling something like fire.
“I think we have to get out of here,” Alex said, listening to the sound.
“You think?” Jack asked.
Just then they heard someone scream, “Holy shit!”
Both Jack and Alex dropped their twigs, pushed a bush aside and walked towards the person. There they saw something like a golden portal, just floating mid air.
Jack started to laugh and said, “Ok, awesome visual effects, guys.” He looked around him, to spot cables and electricity, “But seriously, you can stop now.”
“I’m not sure this is fake,” said Marc. His eyes grew wide behind his thin glasses.
Alex looked around, everyone’s gazes were fixed on the strange portal.
The glittering gold started to disappear and a black void started pulling them in, like a strong magnet.
“We should run,” Alex shouted. “Now!”
~ Kate Kate seemed to have forgotten the red stain on her blouse that had annoyed her from the start of this task. This portal did not belong here and they were not supposed to be here.
They didn’t get far while running, they barely moved, something pulled them towards the portal. The wind blew harder and pulled everything with it.
“We’ve got to hold on to something!” Marc screamed while clutching to a tree scared for his life.
A branch that Maya had been holding onto suddenly cracked, there was only a hint of pure terror in her eyes before she disappeared into the portal with a scream.
“Maya!” Someone yelled.
Jack got swung over the ground and disappeared after Maya. One by one everyone got sucked in and as much as they wished they didn’t scream the way they did. They just did.
Kate tripped on something and fell, only to see that it was Jack and she stepped on his hand. He let out a scream and fell backward as if he just got shot with a revolver.
And what they saw next was an entire different world.
~ Kate continued “What the hell?” Jack exclaimed as he scanned the unfamiliar landscape. His gaze flickered between the others, his confusion visible as the strange surroundings closed in around them.
Marc, who had barely steadied himself after the abrupt arrival, bent forward about to gag. He stumbled a few steps, gasping for air, before his stomach lurched again, and he gagged.
Kate stood up, brushing the dust off her clothes, and turned her head sharply. Her eyes gazed over the scene around her. The world was impossibly still, as if holding its breath. The grass, a shade of green she couldn’t quite place, moved lazily in the breeze, almost too perfect. It smelled of earth, of forests, of something both ancient and fresh. The kind of air that seemed to clear your mind while making you feel almost happy.
As the wind shifted, carrying a few leaves into the air, Kate followed their dance with her eyes, only to find herself looking up at a sky so clear it almost felt unnatural. In the distance, towering trees stood tall, their silvered leaves glimmering like delicate threads of glass. Hanging from their branches were crystals, catching the sunlight in a way that made them seem more like forbidden fruit than anything natural.
She blinked. This... wasn’t right.
Suddenly, something nudged her boot. She instinctively pulled her foot back, only to look down and see a small white bunny, sniffing the leather as if it were a new scent. Its nose twitched, and for a split second, the animal met her gaze before it ran off, disappearing into the tall grass with a speed that was almost too quick.
Kate was still processing what she had just witnessed when she noticed Angelica. She was sitting, rubbing her head. She seemed disoriented, still adjusting to the shock of whatever had just happened. Kate stepped forward, offering a hand. “You good?”
Angelica took it with a nod, using Kate’s support to pull herself to her feet. She wiped some sand off her jeans, her face pale. “Just... a bump. I’m fine.”
Kate gave her a skeptical look. “Are you sure?”
Angelica’s gaze wandered over their surroundings, her eyes growing wide as she tried to make sense of the place. "Where are we?" she murmured, her voice trembling with disbelief.
The question hung in the air, unanswered, as Maya spoke up. “Is this... the other side of the world?”
Jack’s expression twisted in panic. “Wait—are we dead?!” His hands shot up to his face. “Someone hit me. I need to know if this is real.”
Kate, who had been trying to keep her cool, couldn’t help herself. She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek. “You’re not dead, Jack,” she said firmly, her patience wearing thin.
“Ow! You’re—” Jack cut himself off, rubbing his sore cheek. “Violent, that’s what you are.”
Kate just stared at him, her eyes narrowing. “You asked for it.”
Angelica stepped between them, her hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Give him a break,” she muttered, her gaze drifting to Marc, who was still wiping his mouth and looking too stunned to speak.
Alex looked around, severely disoriented. “What just happened?” he asked, confused.
In the background, the mountains lurked, their snowy blankets casting long shadows over the surreal landscape. Everything was beautiful, almost painfully so, but it felt... wrong. Like the kind of beauty that never quite touched you, no matter how hard you tried to reach for it.
Marc wiped his mouth again, still shaky, and finally took a deep breath. He glanced at Maya, who handed him a water bottle. But even as he swallowed, he couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had brought them here wasn’t just some accident.
They weren’t supposed to be here. And they knew it.
The dark room in which Devonshire paced was illuminated by a few shabby candles. How did his cold heart warm slightly at the edges with the thought of his achievements so far. Two nations that had signed with blood, an oath of collaboration, shared interests and assets, had been torn apart. One of which had been used to wipe the blood that fell gradually, but certainly.
He turned to the bell jar that stood fierce on a table, cold to the touch. A flower that was withering away slowly, was kept safely under it. It floated in mid air, ever so lonely, creating condensed air at times, as if breathing. It agreed silently with all plans that were crafted in this room.
The only thing that stood in the way now was the prophecy. Many must have heard about it already, of how a lost piece of parchment claimed that this land would need saving someday from five elementals of this land. It wasn’t so much the old parchment that made the inhabitants believe its words, but the elemental that had formed it. A land that consisted of forces that were concealed from the mundane world, 'the different world', made this parchment. These forces, unknown to the different world, were the elemental that shaped this land.
It was rather unfortunate, he thought, that this prophecy had chosen five fragile beings that were from none other than the different world. To live a such a life under non-elementals was not something that was written in the fine print of the parchment for the chosen elementals. And he would have known, because he had read it, more than he could remember. It was interesting, though unmistakably mundane, because he had anticipated the arrival of them.
Two dark silhouettes came in movement from the far corner of the room. Devonshire eyes darted calmly to where they were standing.
“My lord,” one of them said and bowed slightly. “The five have been spotted early this dawn. We have a strategy and we could --”
“You are not to interfere.” His voice echoed through the room, the wall carrying his command.
“Y- yes, my lord.” The silhouette corrected himself quickly.
“'The soldier' walks this path alone. You will not, unless I say otherwise, so much as breathe upon his trail. Do you understand me?”
“Of course, my lord.”
Devonshire barely acknowledged the reply. His gaze drifted to the frost-laced window, beyond which the mountains lay buried beneath snow. But there, far along the horizon, the snow was beginning to change, darkening, and turning into something foul.
Yes. It was time.
His lips curled into something of an evil grin. The next step of his plan, the cauldron.
"Bring me the potion master's daughter."
“It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice cream sandwiches.” - Lemony Snicket
